Possibilities around the native speaker………

1. Possibilities around the native speaker……… Dr. Simone Smala The University of Queensland Dr. Robyn Moloney Macquarie University

2. Overview • Who is a native speaker? • Our shared focus • Review of literature • Moloney study • Smala Study • Synthesis

3. Who is a native speaker? • Problematic : diaspora, plurality of language • Differences in age, origin, duration of stay, etc • An enduring issue: Blyth (2003) states that ‘it is not hyperbole to say that the native/non-native dichotomy lies at the heart of foreign language teachers’ conception of who they are and what they do, affecting virtually all their pedagogical practices, from textbook selection to error correction’ (Blyth, 2003, p. x).

4. Our shared focus • Construction of the native speaker • diverse perspectives • Two contexts in Qld and NSW • Othering/ distancing  of Native Speakers – needs to be broken down • New subjectivities – the intercultural communicator

5. Review of literature 1 • Sociocultural approach: understanding of first own language(s) and culture(s) in relation to an additional language and culture (Kramsch, 1993; Byram, 1989, 1997; Liddicoat, Papademetre, Scarino & Kohler, 2003). • dialogue “where variable points of view are recognised, mediated and accepted” (Liddicoat et al., 2003, p.46). • more complex than an imitative process, to develop a critical intercultural communicator   • Dervin & Dirba (2006): helping students to become intercultural intermediaries, or speakers – not copies of an ideal and imaginary native speaker

6. Review of Literature 2 • Power: aligned with difference between an imitative model and an intercultural model of assistant practice • an imitative model: the student is in passive receptive mode, without authority; in a “banking model” of education (Freire, 1970), where one “true” version of France and the French language is “deposited” in students. • Want students to be empowered and critically aware

7. Review of Literature 3: ‘Otherness’ and essentialism • Postmodern Ethics (Bauman, 1993) - question of otherness and sameness • If essentialist views of others are deployed to describe the identity of a person, the observer and the subject bearer of identity will assume that there are unchangeable features of this person, his or her position in the world in terms of nationality, gender, ethnicity, religion • “Reliance upon apparently pre-given categories of class, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and so on [invokes] a conception of identity as something to be acknowledged or uncovered rather than constructed, as something fixed rather than changing.” (Bondi, 1993, p.93).

8. Introducing the two studies • Moloney: two schools, traditional language program, native speaker for small group withdrawal conversation practice, viewed through lens of intercultural learning • Smala: interview with teachers and programs director at eight immersion schools, beliefs and attitudes of teachers viewed through lens of postmodern theories of essentialism and ‘otherness’

9. Moloney study • School 1(NS male, 25, 9months in Aust, no training) : NS conducts small group conversation practice Year 10,11,12, French only • School 2 (NS female, 45, 20 years Aust, 4 years experience, no training) NS team-teaches with teacher, collaborative creative planning. French only: robbery clue problem-solving; guess-who-I-am narratives.

10. Moloney study: teacher perceptions • Teachers wanted a micro-CLIL experience for students, in natural conversation of problem-solving games • Positioned themselves as learners, in collaboration with NS • Inclusive, integral

11. Moloney: student perceptions • Language mastery: idiom, pronunciation • Relationship with NS: a friend, relaxed, autonomy in language use • Subjectivity A different mindset, different perspective on life • Points of view recognised mediated and accepted (Liddicoat 2003) a sharing of power in controlling how they perceive both themselves and the Other (Wink, 2005)

12. Smala: Dichotomies….”learnt the system” • “I believe that to have a mix of non‑native and native speakers in your staffroom is an excellent way to go because I believe that as a non‑native speaker of the language, I learnt the system of the language well and truly. That's very important when you come to explain to other non‑native speakers of the language why things are as they are.”

13. Smala: “....But good to have that idiom” • “It's obviously really important to have your native speakers there because they lend that sense of idiom, just the language’s way of saying ‑ expressing that sort of stuff. That's really important as well. Yeah, I appreciate that input.”

14. Smala: Dichotomies... “I really understand” • “We do like to maintain a balance between native and non‑native speakers and I think that the strength is that as a non‑native speaker of the language I really understand what the difficulties are that the children are going to come up against, what they are going to find hard to understand, why they make the errors that they make.”

15. Smala: “Beauty of how they express themselves” • “But the beauty then of also having native speaking teachers is that they have that fluency, particularly for immersion where they are being exposed to so much language, they have that naturalness of expression and of pronunciation and just generally the way that they express themselves.”

16. New subjectivities: Being Bilingual, not native “What's really important is the fact that the teachers are bilingual because they need to go into the language without thinking, "Oh, God, what's that word?", which, say, a teacher in my position might do simply because I learnt the language the old way. So the teachers who we have in the program are very comfortable because they are truly bilingual. So their knowledge of the language, you know, is extensive; it's not just what they did at university; it's beyond that.”

17. Synthesis – things in common and why they matter • Shared concern for inclusive practice that does not distance the NS as “other” • New possibilities around being ‘bilingual’, not simply non-native or native speaker • Many shades of grey – many shades of speakers • Identities as language speakers are not fixed, they are constantly changing • “the language teacher as the cultural informant” • “the language teacher as the bilingual professional” • The language in use offers many new identities, see for example World Englishes

18. A new resource … • Moloney, R. (2011).Teaching and learning languages with a native speaker assistant: a guide (AISNSW) • Practical strategies, teaching ideas. • Available as a PDF, or can be accessed from AIS NSW website later this year.